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A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN Jiajing six-character mark and of the period image 1
A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN Jiajing six-character mark and of the period image 2
A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN Jiajing six-character mark and of the period image 3
A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN Jiajing six-character mark and of the period image 4
A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN Jiajing six-character mark and of the period image 5
Lot 23W

A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN
Jiajing six-character mark and of the period

Amended
14 December 2023, 17:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$108,450 inc. premium

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A MASSIVE MING BLUE AND WHITE DRAGON BASIN

Jiajing six-character mark and of the period
The circular basin with sharply rising sides and painted in rich dark cobalt blue with two lithe five-clawed horned dragons striding around the body on a ground with numerous fire-scrolls and a wide band of leafy scrolling lotus, set between double lines at the foot and below the rounded rim which bears the six-character reign mark in a line above one dragon, the rim with further concentric rings.
36in (91.4cm) diam; with wood stand 29 1/2in (75cm) high

Footnotes

明嘉靖 《大明嘉靖年製》單行橫款 青花雙龍纏枝蓮紋敞口大缸

Compare the similar Jiajing blue and white dragon basin in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli in the Ming Dynasty: A Comparison of Porcelain from the Imperial Kiln Site at Jingdezhen and Imperial Collection of the Palace Museum, Vol. II, Beijing, 2018, p. 747, fig. 9.

For another from the Collection of the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, with similarly dispersed dragons, one with neck coiled to look over its back to the dragon behind, but set on cloud scrolls rather than the stylized scrolling lotus of the Hartman example, see Lai Suk Yee (Exec. editor), Enlightening Elegance, Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming, The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2013, pp. 132-133, no. 17.

A Jiajing-marked 'dragon' basin of smaller size in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, is illustrated by Wang Qingzheng and Fan Jirong (eds.), Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr. & Mrs. J. M. Hu, Shanghai, 1989, p. 54, no. 21. Compare also the blue and white dragon basin of smaller size in the collection of the Beijing Palace Museum, op. cit., p. 469, no. 275, described as Wanli period.

In the Mary Anne Rogers 1988 catalog of the loan exhibit from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, titled The Pursuit of the Dragon: Traditions and Transitions in Ming Ceramics, Seattle, 1988, p. 106, the author notes that the typical Jiajing dragon has 'lumpy brows and straining eyes, haloed by sharply fringed lashes, thick tresses sweeping from beneath the necks into high coiffures, and strong curving bodies propelled by widely stretched limbs'; all so readily on display in this wonderful basin, and set against an unusual scrolling lotus ground rather than the more ubiquitous cloud or fire scrolls. According to R. L. Hobson, The Wares of the Ming Dynasty, London, 1923, p. 19 and p. 110, where the author notes that the large size of these dragon-decorated basins made them particularly difficult to manufacture, and that this type of ware required up to nine days in the firing and that the low rate of success often drove the imperial potters to despair.

Compare to another large basin of similar size decorated with dragons amidst lotus scroll illustrated by R. L. Hobson, The Wares of the Ming Dynasty, New York, 1923, pl. 26, fig. 2.

Saleroom notices

Please note that the dimensions of the basin should be:
30 1/2in (77.4cm) diam; with wood stand 34 1/8in (86.5cm) high.

請注意,拍品23號的尺寸應為:
口徑30 1/2in (77.4cm);帶座通高34 1/8in (86.5cm)

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